– Mohammed Atherulla Shariff
Koppal: In a landmark judgment the Koppal District and Sessions Court has pronounced its verdict on 101 accused whom it had found guilty in the case of atrocities against Dalits at Marakumbi village in Gangavati taluka in 2014. The convicts had also burnt the huts of Dalits and had physically assaulted their victims.
The court has sentenced 98 out of the 101 convicts to life term imprisonment and has levied a fine Rs 5000 on each of them. As three of the convicts belonged to the SC/ST category, the atrocity act hasn’t been applied to them. These convicts have been sentenced to 5 years of jail and Rs 2000 fine.
Judge C Chandrashekhar of the Koppal District and Sessions Court had pronounced the guilty verdict on Monday, nine years after the incident. He had reserved the judgement on punishment to Thursday. The case is related to caste-based violence in Marakumbi village in Gangavathi Taluk on 28 August, 2014.
The accused had set on fire the dwellings belonging to the downtrodden community.
The clash broke out over Dalits being denied entry into the barber shop and eateries. The incident led to widespread protests in several parts of the state.
According to the prosecution, out of 117 accused, 16 passed away during the course of trial.
The Marukumbi case gained significant attention across the state. The village was under police surveillance for three months after the incident.
Many Dalit leaders had taken out a padayatra from Koppal district to Bengaluru. A Dalit leader, Veeresh Marukumbi, a crucial witness in the case was scheduled to testify in the court on 10 July 2015 was found murdered near Koppal Railway Station that very morning.
Some Dalit leaders in Koppal said, “The burning of huts was a tragic incident. Marukumbi village is still remembered for the shameful act”.
